>> marie howe is a new yorker best known for her book what the living do, poems she wrote after her brother john died of aids. marie howe, who said, "john's

living and dying changed my aesthetic entirely." >> the gate. i had no idea that the gate i would step through to finally enter this world would be the space my brother's body made. he was a little taller than me: a young man but grown, himself by then, done at twenty-eight, having folded every sheet, rinsed every glass he would ever rinse under the cold and running water. this is what you have been waiting for, he used to say to me. and i'd say, what? and he'd say, this -- holding up my cheese and mustard sandwich. and i would say, what? and he would say, this, sort of lookinaround.

>> production assistance for "inside washington" was provided by allbritton communications and politico, reporting on the legislative, executive, and political arena. it is march madness when it comes to seniors. >> this week on "inside washington," the budget dance

continues. >> making sure we can live within our means. >> his poll numbers dropped but the president's charm offensive continues. >> i'm trying to create an atmosphere to get something done. >> this will take more than dinner dates and phone calls. >> the gun fight on capitol hill. >> it seems that we should begin as our foundational document with the constitution. >> i am not a sixth grader. senator, i've been on this committee for 20 years. in sandy hook, youngsters were dismembered. >> this man not be a man who wants to wear silk and furs. >> cpac comes to town. >> my filibuster was a message to the president -- good intentions are not enough. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> there are a number of budget

plans out there this week with a one tosomething and each offend someone. how about paul ryan? >> thankfully the american people have made it clear that they reject paul ryan's approach, and house republican'' brazen attempt to balance the budget on the backs of seniors. >> the election did not go our way -- believe me, i know what that feels like it does that mean we surrender our principles? forhe plan would cut taxes everybody and eventually replace medicare with a voucher plan, cut medicaid by over $700 billion in 10 years. do the democrats have a better idea, mark? >> the democrats have a better idea by basically not letting anything compete in the spotlight with paul ryan's. numbersho looks at believe that you can cut the deficit in 10 years while

simultaneously increasing defense spending and cutting 35 to 28, as from mitt romney proposed, but 39 to 25%. it is just a pipe dream. >> are we ever going to settle this thing, lois? >> and then we might. i think the charm offensive is working a little bit. mitch mcconnell is speaking well of the president in saying that we have useful meetings. his biggest problem might end up being the democrats, trying to move them through some sort of entitlement reform. >> evan? >> maybe obama has got some secret plans to, but i don't see it. this is too little too late. if he was serious about a grand bargain he would have started in november. instead, he behaved like a political hack for months, and then his polls go down and he says, okay, i guess i got to

show i'm being cooperative, so he has dinner a couple of times. it is not. getting. >> charles? >> and has not even produced a budget, which by law was due last month. he says it will be out the week of august 8 bid what the senate democrats have done, and these they have produced a budget, first time in four year. have thehe democrats senate and republicans have the house, we will not have a budget that is the result of regular order. there is actually going to be negotiations in each house. i don't think it will be a grand bargain, but you might have some agreement on the edges. >> you have got to hand it to paul ryan, he doesn't quit. he keeps coming back for more. end the summit

for consistency and likability and assiduous this, but you cannot say this is a serious bachmann. you cannot say we will repeal obamacare, which will cover un inter people, 26 million, and a decade, and not say what you will replace. money from then repeal of allg obamacare -- he is spending money from the repeal of obamacare that it does not acted it does not exist and cannot exist unless they get control of congress. >> spending money that does not exist, that is nothing new. the oldsides applying gang. republicans know that this is nonsense, equally on both sides. the only person who can solve that is the president, who can

go out and say that we will stop doing the usual stuff lying about the numbers. the reason we have to do this is because it is so hard and we have to be honest. >> charles mentioned the president's polls but a new abc news poll, and he had an 18- point lead over republicans handling the economy to just a four-point advantage. congress is down there with saddam hussein and gaddafi and popularity, except that the other guys, being dead, don't really care. congress does. the president has to do the charm offensive because he got cocky. he won the election and he crushed republicans on the fiscal cliff, and he tried to do it on sequester. sequester, the way he pushed it, was a mistake. he overshot with talk of the

apocalypse, which exposed and to ridicule. but then he acted so cynically with the biggest example being the shutting down of the white house tours, and people can understand that the administration was deliberately trying to find stuff that would be painful and visible rather than being economical with cuts. that is white and he had to retreat -- why he had to retreat. purposes.s serves two it makes the eu and look efficient by contrast, and makes the president's job rating look good by comparison. a continuing resolution, a washington speech, -- to fund, government's there will be an agreement on that pit the crunch time will be sometime next august. if there is going to be a grand bargain, whether it is a grand bargain or mini-grand bargain, that is when it is going to take place.

run out ofl start to the class and the president is a lame duck and the race to succeed him dominates the political landscape. >> people are getting fed up with this. >> they are getting fed up, but the polls are very fungible. i don't know if the abc poll reflects the charm offensive trade right now looks like a president is really trying to do something. on the other hand, it looks like john boehner is digging in and say, "oh, he's just having dinner stock was i don't know if people like that, either. >> it is completely washington jokesville! . people. >> what happened to the modern middle -- moderate middle of this show? what's happened to evan?

>> the charm offensive is not working on john boehner. >> i think the president, for whatever reason, this has been so long delayed in his presidency, his charm offensive. this is a man he was charmed some very powerful and influential people to contribute to his campaigns, so he is pretty damn effective in small groups. he failed to utilize this strength and whether it is his own lack of interest or enthusiasm or engagement, i don't know, but it may be too little too late. >> it makes you wonder, what is the big plan here? i thought that once he was reelected, he would be doing some charm offensive than. instead, he has done a continuation of hack 101, democratic, slammed the other --

>> think he is now -- >> because his polls are singing. "oh, my god, i've got to appear --" >> he had a campaign to take it to the american people and use our grass roots. -- clearlyfired backfired for him -- >> go to the grass roots for what? >> to put pressure on the members. but i think he realizes now that he does not get this done, he cannot do anything else for the next year. -- leadowing g slow going into lame-duckdom. >> what does he want when you say "this"? our real deal where he will cut entitlements and balance the budget or put it in a way that is not handed over a cliff?

i am not saying it is impossible. if we spent 20 minutes here, we could work out a deal with a compromise and you would have a real grand bargain that would put us on a footing for the next 20 years. but the president is not interested in that i am not sure he is. "yes, i knewy, what a grand bargain," but there has never been a coherent, consistent view of what he wants. cheerant to say to evan, up, things will eventually get worse. [laughter] when you have the party, the leaders of which stood on national television and offer the deal of all bills, $10 in spending cuts for $1 in tax increase, every one of their presidential candidates said no. he has to come forward with the realization that 37% of the

entire budget is social security and medicare and interest on the debt. all the cuts that are coming are .oming out of education it is hurting the economy. you have got to come up with the plan to came the growth of entitlements -- to tame the growth of the entitlements. >> i am very intuitive could i have the sense that charles is exasperated by what you said. >> pardon me, charles. >> he has been in office for a term and three months. he knows what the problem is. he is not a stupid man. he spoke about this openly in 2010, saying that medicaid is unsustainable and the cuts at the edges are not going to work one. what evan is asking, i suspect that he is exasperated, too, is why hasn't he done anything? the only reason he is doing the

charm offensive is to manage the poll numbers. >> i think the democrats are a big problem for him. they do not want to change social security. social security was started at a time when life expectancy was 65 years old. >> it seems that all is good begin with our foundational document as the constitution, and the second man and says the right to bear arms shall not be infringed. >> i have studied the constitution myself, i am reasonably well educated, and i thank you for the lecture. incidently, this does not prohibit -- you'll use the word "prohibit." 88ibits 2271 weapons -- since 2002 under 71 weapons. isn't that enough? cruz and dianne feinstein. can this relationship be saved?

the gun-control measure was approved and then along party lines. what are its chances of survival, lois? >> the one that has a chance of survival is universal checks. this congress does not have the taste for banning assault weapons, and i don't know why. the other one that could have a chance as high-powered magazines. but there's still a lot of resistance. background check >> is, though? >> possibly. theretty small beer in amount of outrage there was after the murders. the best i could do, i guess, but in washington, if you just outwait the passion -- >> i don't know if you can on this. the mothers from newtown are going around the country and are getting a tremendous response. > i think senator ted cruz

deserves a special distinction. he is writing a book called " dale carnegie was wrong." [laughter] he could alienate mother teresa in 30 seconds. he is doing so member by member in the committee he serves. there is a real chance that high-capacity magazines and high-volume magazines. i hate to say it, but the first factor is newtown, because those and theand 7-year-olds slaughter of innocents is indelibly printed on people's minds. and i hate to say, but there's a chance of one more instance before the senate votes on this. >> the substance of the contretemps between cruz and feinstein -- he made the point, would you be restricting the first amendment the same way eu impose restrictions on the

second? the implication is that the first amendment is pristine. in fact, we have layer upon layer of restrictions on the first amendment. libel laws, laws about pornography and obscenity. you cannot even say certain words on broadcast television, let alone malfunction in the wardrobe. in a theater. there are restrictions even on political speech in campaigns. he has a lot of arguments, and the second amendment deserves respect, but the argument that it is pristine the way the first amendment is simply doesn't hold up. >> as the new defense secretary arrived in afghanistan, the president of the country, and it was like, declared that the americans and the taliban are torking together destabilize the country. the top commander warned that the comments could be a catalyst

for afghans to lash out against the troops did what is with karzai? >> he is trying to save his neck. the history of people who defy the todd hea and being -- defy the taliban -- is about survival. >> we forgive this guy because he wants to save his own skin? is that the argument? >> the general put it directly, that what we're dealing with here is somebody -- evan is absolutely right -- is just into self preservation. it involves assassination attacks upon americans, that is the price he is willing to pay for its own political survival. >> i have a different interpretation, because the only way he will survive as if we need a residual force. if the effect way entirely --

if we evacuate entirely, he won't last week. what he did is a rational because it will hasten our leaving and in fact complete evacuation. who wants to leave americans behind for this guy? he has a history of -- i won't say "instability," but he is material, and what he said is self-destructive. >> he is an erratic a guy and he is talking out of both sides of his mouth. >> a new pope for an ancient church. >> he is a man who is charismatic. he wins if action by his gentleness -- he wins and affection by his gentleness and simplicity. >> that is a jesuit priest on pope francis, a man who has done

a great devotion to the poor. catholicomes to the church's traditional sayings on abortion same-sex marriage, he will not depart. >> you are looking continuity, but in emphasis and style and record, you are looking at change. this is somebody who is not hesitated to afflict the comfortable and take a strong and principled stand and consistent stand against income inequality, against the concentration of money on the part of the wealthy, and the increase in poverty, and he said they constitute social sins. the man's personal style, the humility and the taking of public transportation, living in an apartment rather than the palatial brownell stat -- encouraging.te is

can he control the curia in the vatican, which is a disaster? of a chinese talk past when it comes to the dirty -- and his appearances in - disappearances in argentina. >> there was talk about the dirty war -- >> which he denies. >> which he denies. he seems like a lovely guy who wants to help the poor, but as a catholic, i think it is a missed opportunity. he is not going to change anything, and they could have gone for a reformist. >> what do you think? you don't get a vote. >> as a non-from catholic, i think the most important thing here is a geographical choice. going to the americas for the first time, where there are more

catholic than we realize. in latin america, 40% of the world's catholics are there, and only 1/4 in europe. it is a symbol of how it is becoming the universal church and the status of the european church, which is radically in decline, is being highlighted by his appointment. is an appealing modesty, but you don't get to be pope by being modest, i suspect. >> to my coreligionist and evan, the most radically revolutionary power of the 20 center was an old man -- medically revolutionary pope of the 20th century was an old man, who threw open the windows and doors of the catholic church engage the world. >> but this man is against globalization. >> he is against what globalization has done to his people and anybody who does not argue against that is indifferent to economic

consequences. >> we know about his record against gay marriage, but we know today that senator rob portman has departed from his position on this. >> unbelievable segue. pope to apartment. > -- to portman. >> that is why we are here. >> the portman thing is fascinating, because he was on the short list for romney, who anday anti-gay marriage, rob portman sat on this for two years and waited a couple of times after the the election. >> pope to portman to cpac. a word on the conservative political action conference. >> president obama, who seemed once upon a time to respect civil liberties, has become the president who signed the law allowing detention of american citizen.

at the cpacand paul conference just outside washington. the words we just heard could have been uttered by a member of the american civil liberties union. >> this is what libertarians are like this is what his dad is like. rand is much more polished. he does not talk about the gold standard or destroying the fed and stuff like that. attractive.ely when he pulled off with the filibuster was a stunt of political genius, because he had the floor and the attention of the country for all day. but this was a move that was quite interesting and politically radical. he is very much in liberal on social issues, and that is a challenge for the will conservative movement over the last 30 years. it is interesting whether or not he will get traction.

among the young, i think it will, but i am not sure by how much of a feature adds. >> i see a rivalry at the cpac conference between rand paul and marco rubio. >> i am not sure that the ruby of people wanted it set up that way, but rubio said, but what we don't need new ideas," which was kind of jarring, but everybody was saying for the first nine hours, let's just cling to 1981, and then ran paul brought the house down, saying that we need to change and we have fuddy- duddies here. >> the world is changing, mark. >> the world is changing, but cpac isn't. [laughter] this is a group that decided to end by donald trump and not chris christie and bob mcdonnell, both of whom apparently believe that government should do something. the cpac poll, which they kick at the feet of the meetin --

take at the end of the meeting, president steve forbes won, president jack kemp won three times -- >> ron paul. >> president george allen, who went on to lose two senate races in virginia. >> if the republicans want to become the permanent minority, they will listen to cpac. [laughter] i rise in defense of this libel the group is mostly young people, very enthusiastic, which is why rand probably has a bill, and i suspect it is more libertarian than the old fuddy-duddies. but the question of isolationism, what rand paul is advocating is different from what mccain and others and even rubio would advocate.

but it has appeal and will be interesting to see if the foreign issues paul can carry the day. lois, three of us, mark, action,w ron paul in and who were his biggest fans? young people. >> no question. years, thest 12 republican edge on foreign muscular,this let's go around the world, it has receded, and it is a political liability a lot more than it was 12 years ago. after iraq and afghanistan, there is far less appetite for interventionist america. >> last word. see you next week.